Dudley receives his CBE

For once he could not even manage a joke, just a careful wave of his top hat. Dudley Moore, the comic genius once known as Cuddly Dudley to his legions of female fans, was a gaunt and troubled shadow of his former self when he was made a CBE at Buckingham Palace today.

He attended the ceremony in a wheelchair, a victim of the degenerative brain condition Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. He was accompanied by his sister Barbara Stevens, 76, who is also in a wheelchair.

It took near 40 years for Moore - Dagenham's best known export after the Ford Escort - to receive official recognition. He first received national attention for his part in the legendary Beyond The Fringe with Peter Cook, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, later going on to television stardom with Cook in Not Only . . . But Also.

Moore went on to become an instant Hollywood hit in the comedy 10 before receiving a best actor Oscar nomination for his role as a hard-drinking millionaire in Arthur.

Moore arrived in style, sweeping through the Palace gates in a 1954 Silver Wraith Rolls-Royce identical to the one in Arthur. Dressed in a morning suit, 66-year-old Moore was wheeled to the front of the ballroom by a palace page.

The Prince of Wales, in his naval uniform, stepped off the dais to congratulate the musician and actor.